Tip of the Week #26 - "Draping" Ortho Images on Surfaces

Take your ortho plan view images and surface models further by “draping” the image on a surface. This provides texture and is a great visualization tool! Here’s how…

We’ll work with only a surface and a plan view image. The surface can be generated from linework, points, point cloud, anything. The plan view image could be an orthomosaic from photogrammetry or a georeferenced image.

In the Plan View on the left, you’ll see the ortho image, on the right, you’ll see the surface model, Topo Surface, in 3D, in a lovely shade of triangulated gray.

(Note in red how each view can have its own View Filter -My FilterandMy Filter - Copy- set to view different layers and objects in each layer, maybe a future Tip of the Week?)

Let’s add more detail to the surface by adding the ortho image as a surface member, effectively draping the image on the surface. In the Surfaces tab, select theSurface Memberscommand. With the intended surface selected in theSurfacedrop-down box (Topo Surface in this case), click in theSelected: 0text box under theMember to add or remove:

Then click on the image you wish to drape. You may have to select the image in the Project Explorer > Imported Files. The Selection number will change to 1.

Then, click the Add button. After an automatic project recomputation, the surface will be updated with the imagery added: